The minable resources of coal are supposed to be large enough to last for a couple of centuries. Or are they?
A new method of analyzing the output of mines over time suggests that the actual minable amount of coal is 4 times lower than previously assumed. “Peak coal” might be happening as early as 2025.
{The researcher] found that each of the depleted regions followed a rough bell curve of production; initial production was followed by a steep ramp-up, a plateau near peak levels, and then a consistent decline.
When he applied the same formula to coal data from around the world, the results were startling: the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s maximum estimate for extractable coal is about 3,400 billion tons. Rutledge’s calculations suggest just 666 billion tons.
